Stock-market investors navigated, virtually unscathed, a gauntlet of central-bank gatherings, a historic summit[1] between President Donald Trump and North Korean Kim Jong Un, and flaring trade tensions.
The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.10%[2] ended the week[3] essentially flat, managing the narrowest of weekly gains, up 0.02% to 2,779.66, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.34%[4] posted a weekly decline of 0.9%. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.19%[5] outperformed both, rising 1.3% for the five-day period.
Not too shabby, considering that the Federal Reserve on Wednesday lifted rates for a second time in 2018[6], signaling, perhaps, two more increases to key interest rates remaining in the year, while the European Central Bank on Thursday submitted a road map for unraveling its crisis-era, multitrillion-euro bond-buying initiative[7], though at a less aggressive clip than markets had anticipated.
Read: Stock-market investors see China tariffs as a ‘buzzkill’[8]
Also: What investors have to look forward to: no recession, but limited growth[9]
Against that backdrop, the stock market appears unbowed, with signs of an uptrend that could take the Dow and S&P 500, which have been in correction territory — typically defined as a drop of at least 10% from a recent peak — since February.
Here are a few developments investors may consider as the market attempts its next move in the coming weeks:
Dow transports eye record
For one, the Dow Jones Transportation Average, which tracks the performance of companies ranging from railroad operator CSX Corp. CSX, +1.15%[10] to airline giant United Continental Holdings Inc. UAL, +1.19%[11] , is knocking on the door of an all-time high. The gauge, often viewed as an indicator of the health of the market because of the role transportation plays in a vibrant economy, stands just 2.6% short of its record close set on Jan. 12 and is up 9.4% since putting in its 2018 nadir in April, according to WSJ Market Data Group.
The performance of transports is particularly notable...